After over a year of speculation, the long awaited iPhone 5 release is a mere week away. Apple has a way of keeping its cards close, especially when it comes to new releases, so Apple’s invite to next week’s media event is no exclusion. Just take a look at the above invitation, which was sent citing no reason for the invite. The only clue? A not so subtle 5 in the shadow of the event invite.

SheBytes began reporting on the much anticipated iPhone 5 release all the way back in June of 2011 (just check out these iPhone 5 mockups). Back then, the iPhone 5 rumor mill had been sadly dissapointed by Apple’s release of the iPhone 4S. Now, a year later, we are finally ready for the iPhone 5 release! And if the media invite above is any indication, it will most definitely be an iPhone 5 that is announced.

So what can we expect in the new device? Quite a bit! There are some design changes. Rumor has it the iPhone 5 will be thinner than the iPhone 4, but longer. Approximate measurements are 125mm by 58.5mm by 7.4mm—about 10mm more in height, less 2mm in thickness, with the same width. It is also likely to feature a smaller dock connector, a relocated earphone jack (moved down to the bottom corner) and a new space between the camera lens and the LED flash (perhaps relocating the second microphone for better video/audio capture). This design reflects a “unibody enclosure;” nothing new to Apple designs (recall the Apple 2008 unibody notebooks). And even the speaker grills are redesigned (and they look pretty edgy!).

In any event, get your cash ready; if the iPhone 5 release goes as well as any of the previous iPhone releases, we’ll be forking over our money to Apple very soon (myself included). The device is likely to go on sale nine days after its announcement, on September 21.

New iPhone is in the rumor mill. Every tech blogger is talking about it. With some factories reported to have started production, it seems the rumor has legs.

The New iPhone has been gathering lot of rumor ever since 9to5Mac leaked its photos to the internet. Although the phone was only a prototype meant for design testing, it certainly gave tech bloggers something to talk about.

Plenty of factors suggest that a next-gen iPhone will be released this September. As Samsung is expecting to sell 10 million units of Galaxy S III by the end of this month, chances are that Apple will release its phone to match these dates. If Apple launches at the right time, it may be able to interrupt Samsung’s plans with the Galaxy S III launch.

What’s with stockpiling the nano sims?

European carriers have already begun stockpiling nano sims, according to the Financial Times. The magazine related the stocking of nano sims to the release of the iPhone 5 because the same thing happened at the time of the iPhone 4 release (with micro sims).

Is iPhone already in production?

CNET recently reported that the new iPhone production has already begun in Shanghai. Many industry specialists and analysts are already saying the new iPhone will be out in September. A popular Apple blog, AppleInsider, claims that Apple has already planned the launch for September. The blog also claims that Apple will soon announce the release date.

Alibaba (Japan) has already started selling iPhone 5 cases. The reason these iPhone cases are coming out is obvious. There is no chance that a large manufacturer will be selling huge quantities of iPhone 5 cases without confirming production first. Check out the the iPhone 5 cases on Alibaba Japan.

Features expected in new iPhone

I’ve already said the new iPad 3 indicates functionality of the iPhone 5. The new iPhone is expected to have many new features including powerful processor with Quad Core ARM technology. DigiTimes has claimed that the new iPhone processor will be based on Samsung’s Exynos 4 architecture. We know one thing for sure; the new iPhone will be extremely fast!

NFC Capabilities: The new iPhone is also expected to have all the Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. With Android adopting these chips, there are possibilities that Apple will also embrace this new technology to boost mobile ecommerce. There can’t be a better time to adopt it than NOW with new iPhone release.

A smaller dock: According to Reuters, the new iPhone will have a smaller dock connector. The 30-pin port will be changed into a 19-pin port. Apple will be able to move headphone jack to the bottom of the phone since a smaller connector will leave space for a 3.5mm jack.

Thinner screen: The new iPhone is expected to have ‘in-cell technology’ to make screen thinner. Sharp and LG already use ‘in-cell technology for LCDs.

16:9 aspect ratio and an HD front facing camera: New iPhone will have 16:9 aspect ratio and a HD front facing camera, according to a report from KGI analyst Mingchi Kuo.

The next-gen iPhone will probably be released in September but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Since a company in Shanghai has begun production, we must be pretty close to release. On the other hand, Apple is silent on the release date. It hasn’t responded to inquiries from tech bloggers, including big-wigs (who usually get a reply) such as CNET.

Mobile web is the future of internet browsing. With HTML5 support for mobile web, there’s no doubt it’ll be easier to access the internet using a mobile device.

Mobile web has become increasingly popular, as most Americans use their portable devices to access the Internet. With mobility and booting-time issues surrounding desktop and laptop computers, mobile phones and tablets are certainly the quickest way to read email and find information about just anything –be it the food you plan to eat or the next destination you want to visit. Mobile web’s extraordinary evolution in the past couple of years is clearly indicative of a future where people will only use traditional computers for work (if even for that).

Why Mobile Web has an Edge over the Computer

It’s with you, everywhere: No matter where you are, you can always have a mobile device in your pocket. That means you can browse through your favorite websites from anywhere, anytime.

Convenience: Checking your Facebook status or Tweeting about your lunch menu is easy with mobile. You don’t have to boot a laptop or desktop every time you want to send a quick update to your social circle. With mobile web, you can quickly browse through any website.

Ecommerce: With mobile web’s acceptance rising, ecommerce will see a major shift from computer friendly to mobile friendly. Google Wallet is already helping to simplify payments via mobile web. You can see it in action at movietickets.com. Right now Google Wallet is available only to selected U.S. merchants but is expected to expand quickly.

Mobile videos: YouTube has native support for most operating systems, while HTML 5 now supports most mobile platforms with its video features.

Email on the go: Wherever you are, smartphones make sure email is with you. In fact, according to Nielson Mobile Media View Internet (May 2010), the average time spent using email during one hours use of mobile web was 25 minutes, a greater share than any other mobile activity!

Shopping is becoming social: Mobile is a great way to shop because it keeps you connected to social networks. With a Facebook recommendation from your closest friend, you can buy your favorite gadget while you’re on the go.

Near Field Communication is the future: NFC technology is set to revolutionize how we buy things. It will essentially replace your plastic credit card. With an NFC enabled phone for payment, people will be able to use PayPass (MasterCard), PayWave (Visa) and various other payment terminals to make a purchase using a mobile device.

New Operating Systems for mobile: Mobile web is already in the limelight with developers and investors in the IT industry. Many new operating systems, such as web-based Firefox OS (reference 58), Windows 8, and Tizen from The Linux Foundation, have already announced development. Great news for mobile web community! With more operating systems moving to the web, mobile web is going to see a rise in popularity.

What’s the Criticism?

Cross platform compatibility: Mobile data usage indicates that developers will have to create websites that appear the same way on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone. Creating a truly cross-platform website is not easy when you’re working with so many platforms. Plus, with market share dominated by Apple’s iOS and Android, developers find it tough to develop a mobile platform that performs the same way on both.

Screen Size: Small screen sizes on mobile devices make comfortably viewing most websites a challenge. However, with HMTL 5 dominating the scene, developers are creating flexible width websites. These websites automatically load a stylesheet (a file that defines the layout of a website) to auto-correct to device width. This means developers can create separate stylesheets for mobile and computers to load a different layout for each device.

Public WiFi Access is yet to mature: Public Internet is dominated by many different networks, making it difficult for users to buy monthly packages. Aside from Starbucks, we’ve yet to see a unified, on-demand, public wifi that’s consistently available wherever you are.

Mobile web is on the rise. With more and more people accessing the Internet from their mobile devices, it’s not going to be long before web developers and platform engineers sort out their differences. With mobile devices increasing in popularity, it is going to be a bright future for mobile web.

Google; I’m a fan. You’ve revolutionized the web, eCommerce, search, email, voice calls (and the list goes on and on). But this takes the cake…

From eWallets, NFC technology, and the Square iPhone Payment Processing system, the overhanging concept of mobile checkout is all the rage right now (I alone have written 3 articles on the subject in just the last week). I don’t like to repeat myself, but I had to do it for Google’s sake; because they are yet another example of a conglomerate that understands that cash is, after all, king.

On Tuesday Google opened registration to its annual developer conference; but there was a catch — the $900 admission charge could only be processed via the company’s new mobile payment system, Google Wallet.

While Google posited the eWallet requirement as a way to “speed things” up and “expedite the registration process”, many registrants viewed the mandate as an obstacle to sign-up. I view it as a brilliant business move for a not-so-widely-adopted payment system, to:

Last week I shared my incredible experience of mobile checkout at Sephora. In line with the subject, Square (which lets you accept payments on your smartphone via an external dongle) launched today a new Card Case payment system that turns your phone into a mobile wallet.

The new ‘Pay With Square’ is a handsfree app that allows you to pay via credit card without ever swiping your card again! Instead of swiping through an external square reader, the new app pulls up a list of participating retailers within proximity of you, including a map. You can sort by relevancy or distance to see which merchants will accept payment via mobile. Still in its infancy, the NFC based system is already enabling mobile payments at over 70,000 merchants in under a year’s time.

While the dongle is great for accepting payments on the go, the Pay With Square app is ideal for making payment on the fly; it reminds me of Seamless, my pick for best app for dining, which I use regularly to place online food orders (Seamless also has really cool office decor).

My Anastasia Brow products (fav!) needed a refresh, so I took a power-walk up to the Sephora store on 57th and Lexington today. I did a little shopping and one of the sales reps came over asking if I needed any help. I let her know I was okay (I know my way around a Sephora store!), so she asked if I was by chance ready to check out –I was. Expecting she would ask me to walk over to the register, I was surprised when she pulled out her iPhone to check me out!

Similar to the check-out at the Apple store, the rep looked up my Sephora Insider number using my email address, scanned my products on the spot, swiped my credit card, and even printed my receipt with an adjacent wireless printer! I was blown away! No need to wait in line, no bulky computer, no cashier; and the salesgirl on the floor was a single point of sale. I’m not quite sure what application the iPhone was running (maybe it was Square iPhone Payment Processing, which we had written about in the past) but I was amazed by how easy, quick and seamless my check-out was.

Most impressive was that this all took place while buying make up and not something more high-tech (like a MacBook Air from an Apple store –that was last week ).

Square is the best payment app, period! Designed to totally revolutionize the current payments system, Square is a simple concept, but an extremely powerful one. Square wants to enable everyone to accept credit cards. That’s right, EVERYONE…EVERYWHERE